Recurrence
by Sebe
Summary: Derek's mother and Stiles' mother were best friends when they were younger. This is how they met and what Derek sees parallel in it.


Summary: Derek's mother and Stiles' mother were best friends when they were younger. This is how they met and what Derek sees parallel in it.

Author's Notes: Derek's mother (Talia) and Stiles' mother (Vera) were best friends when they were young, like Scott and Stiles are now. Somehow, Derek and Peter are able to see the moment the two first met. Both of them had just lost a family member/parent. The scene is strangely familiar to Derek.

I seriously have this whole back story for these two in my head. Like, huge. ^_^; How they met, life with the pack, magic, why their boys never knew they knew each other, huge. So here's just one story I thought I could get out.

I just picked the name of Stiles' mom out of the air. No basis for it.

**Recurrence**

Derek's amazed that his mother was this strong this young. A full wolf form at barely twelve, running blind through the woods after having her world pulled out from under her. _'Your father's dead. You're the alpha now'. _

He remembers Laura was only 20.

He's entranced as she barrels through the trees, all confusion and grief and anger. He knows it all exactly. Derek pays rapt attention as she stops running and Peter, to his left, huffs out a strange noise of knowing and fondness. Talia's standing still, chest heaving with emotion more than exertion and staring straight at a kid who can't be more than seven, all round, human eyes and shock.

Talia reacts like what she is, a wolf with a broken heart who isn't sure what to do with it all. She storms toward the kid and _roars_ in her face.

Nothing happens.

The kid isn't moving and Derek suddenly dreads whatever they're supposed to be seeing. If this is all just so he can watch his grief-stricken mother tear some kid apart… He's begging the girl in his mind to move, show her throat in submission, _something_, because he doesn't want that memory of his mother.

But she doesn't. Won't.

Talia bears her fangs, snaps and snarls at the child.

"…I'm…not…" The kid shakes her head all of a sudden and her amber eyes narrow, little fists clenched at her sides. She steps forward, forcing Talia to lean her head back. "I'm not afraid of you!"

A lie anyone, wolf or not, would see right through. The child's legs tremble, tears still cloud her vision; she's afraid, but she's not backing down and Derek _knows_ this like he's lived it.

Talia's thrown off enough that her anger retreats, giving way to her grief, her aggressive stance collapses. The little girl's eyes are sharp on her though, like she expects a trick. She's wary and not stupid.

When Talia takes a step back, the kid's hand shoots out and grabs the scruff of her neck, tangling in her fur, and it's Talia who goes still. The girl leans forward almost hesitantly, but then quickly launches herself forward, throwing her arms around the wolf tightly. Derek doesn't think he's ever seen a hug best described as 'violent' before, but it fits.

And it's a little heartbreaking.

Because the girl is shaking and Derek knows she's crying, was crying before Talia ever stumbled upon her. Because his mother, who just lost her own, is a wolf and Derek can still tell she's crying too. Talia leans into the girl, muzzle pressed to the juncture of her shoulder and neck, and not for a moment is she 'alpha'.

The girl stops crying after a bit, but holds on awhile longer. Derek doesn't think the child notices it, he barely does, when Talia changes from wolf to human again, arms wrapped the smaller girl's waist.

With a last sniffle, the kid pulls back. If she's in any way surprised or scared that the wolf she was holding is now a girl a few years her senior sitting naked on the forest floor, she doesn't show it. Scrubbing her sleeve across her face, the child plops down in front of Talia. She smiles at Derek's mother, amber eyes (that Derek _knows_) gleaming up at Talia's own reddened ones.

"I'm Vera." Derek hears his uncle breathe her name along with her. If Peter were still capable of true emotion, Derek would think he'd be close to tears himself.

Talia looks like she knows she should be confused or cautious, not even because of werewolf/human, just common sense. But something has completely disarmed her, thrown her off onto a path where nothing she knows makes sense and it's all because of this damn kid. She doesn't know why, but she doesn't ask. She looks at the girl a moment and Derek finally sees his mother's smile again.

"…Talia."

"I'd forgotten…How they were together." Derek looks over at his uncle. He's no fool. Peter isn't Uncle Peter anymore. He can't truly feel. But Derek thinks, looking at him now, he may remember what that Peter used to feel. "They were…" he shakes his head, laughs, bittersweet. "Beautiful…Unbeatable."

The child's moved on, it seems, to other matters in her head.

"Are you usually a wolf or usually a girl? Do you live in the woods? I haven't seen you before. Were you, like, a bird then or something or are you only a wolf? Are you a lot older than me?"

Talia, for her part, just keeps smiling at the girl, seeming to find comfort in running the new name quietly over her tongue.

"Vera." She repeats, "Vera."

All Derek hears is _'Stiles'_.


End file.
